Clarence Gordon Robertson (9 April 1902 – 31 October 1974) was an Australian politician and a member of the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House ...

between 1942 and 1950 and again between 1953 and 1959. He was a member of the Labor Party.

Early life

Robertson was born at

Dubbo Dubbo (; ) is a city in the Orana (New South Wales), Orana Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre in the Orana region, with a population of 43,516 at June 2021. The city is located at the intersection of the ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

and was the son of a butcher. He was educated to elementary level in Dubbo and, from the age of 14, worked as a rural labourer. He was employed by the

New South Wales Government Railways New South Wales Government Railways (NSWGR) was an agency of the Government of New South Wales that administered rail transport in the colony, and then the state, of New South Wales, Australia, between 1855 and 1932. History The NSWGR built ...

in the mid-west of New south Wales between 1924 and 1942.

State Parliament

Robertson was the endorsed Labor candidate for the seat of

at the 1941 election. Despite a resurgence in rural support for Labor at the election, Robertson was defeated by the incumbent Country Party member

George Wilson George Wilson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * George Balch Wilson (1927–2021), American composer, professor emeritus at the University of Michigan * George Washington Wilson (1823–1893), Scottish photographer * George Christopher (ac ...

by 159 votes. Wilson died 11 months after the election and Robertson won the resultant

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

. He retained the seat for Labor for 8 years but was defeated, during a general swing against Labor, at the 1950 election by Robert Medcalf the incumbent Country Party member for Lachlan. Medcalf's seat had been abolished by a redistribution. Robertson regained the seat in

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...

and retained it until he was defeated at the 1959 election by the Liberal Party's, Les Ford. Robertson joined the Country Party in 1961 in the expectation that he would be the party's candidate at the election held in March

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

. However, the party did not endorse a candidate and Robertson styled himself as the "Independent Country" nominee. He received 5% of the vote and retired from public life. He did not hold party, parliamentary of ministerial office. After leaving parliament he owned and managed a farm.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson, Clarrie 1902 births 1974 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales 20th-century Australian politicians